Last week stakeholders from across Latin America and the Caribbean met in Cordoba for the Sixth Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Although a multi-stakeholder forum, civil society was best represented, with only a handful of participants from the private sector and government.

In an Open Letter put out during the World Conference on International Telecommunications, civil society groups call on the the ITU’s Secretary General and the conference Chairman to address three immediate and pressing matters: the lack of any official standing to the public comments by civil society; the lack of access to and transparency of working groups, particularly the working groups of Committee 5 (the review committee); and the absence of mechanisms to encourage independent civil society participation.